Inherit the Stars

While the link to the free baen.com library has already been posted i'd like to point to a specific book which is available there for free: Inherit the Stars by James P. Hogan, my all-time favourite book. Not because it's necessarily the best book i ever read but it is the reason why i started reading books at all:

November 2010

Just received this email, hope it is okay to post:

November's Free Ebook is Tom Paine Maru, Author's Special Edition by L. Neil Smith. The author is a four time Prometheus Award winner with critically acclaimed titles like The Probability Broach and Pallas.

Whitey O’Thraight, the Ship’s Armorer on the first interstellar vessel launched by his home planet Vespucci, finds himself stranded on a strange planet with just one other survivor. Captured by the local Baron, they are freed by a group of monks who are much more than they initially appear to be. Their new benefactors and friends have something special in mind for the two survivors, but going along with these plans might mean the destruction of Vespucci as they knew it

The Ebook Code for this month is 9992224 and will be valid from November 2 through November 30. Link and instructions, as usual, at http://www.PPickings.com (direct link to our catalogue).

November's Free Ebook is Tom Paine Maru, Author's Special Edition by L. Neil Smith. The author is a four time Prometheus Award winner with critically acclaimed titles like The Probability Broach and Pallas.

Whitey O’Thraight, the Ship’s Armorer on the first interstellar vessel launched by his home planet Vespucci, finds himself stranded on a strange planet with just one other survivor. Captured by the local Baron, they are freed by a group of monks who are much more than they initially appear to be. Their new benefactors and friends have something special in mind for the two survivors, but going along with these plans might mean the destruction of Vespucci as they knew it

The Ebook Code for this month is 9992224 and will be valid from November 2 through November 30. Link and instructions, as usual, at http://www.PPickings.com (direct link to our catalogue).

Prometheus winner, huh? Anyone know if this is a libertarian book? Just wondering.

Interesting planetology and orbital mechanics plus silicon bio-chemistry. I suppose this qualifies as hard sci-fi. Might be most similar to Weber's On Basalisk Station wit weird aliens attacking humans, but better.

Just recently discovered the Baen library and started on the Warrior's Apprentice, my first Vorkosigan book. (I guess I'm the last to find them, but there were 10 or 15 years where I wasnt reading much, so I'm catching up.)

Wanted to note, since no one else has, that Amazon/kindle/sci-fi section does have a few free books from indie authors. I dont know that I have seen any sci-fi classics for free on Amazon (.99, sure, but not for free.) As far as the freebies that are there, so far I have read:

(1) The Bright of the Sky, which features an incredibly vividly imagined universe and a plot that moves, albeit with (to me) somewhat weak and/or unlikable characters and characterizations. The sequels are not free, and in fact I think are 8.99, so I am not recommending the book per se.

(2) I also read Relentless, which has quite an interesting premise, and a strong first half of the book, but ends up, in my view, a bit of a mess, for example relying on a lengthy villain monologue to explain essentially the entire book. That said, the reviews are not too bad. I think there are sequels which are not free.

It appears that all of the top entries in the "recommended" section are short stories. However, I am *very* intrigued by the mix of award contenders and old classics. For example, Nightfall and The Cold Equations are both on there, two of the best sci-fi short stories ever. Anyone that has not read these two should run over there and do that.

December's Free Ebook of the Month is Michael Flynn's Hugo nominated
novella The Forest of Time.

The story takes place in an alternate universe where the original thirteen
colonies in America were unable to unite the country into the United
States and the states developed into mutually hostile nation states.

The Forest of Time is included in the Anthology 'The Forest of Time and
Other Stories' published by Phoenix Pick.

The Coupon Code for December is 9992374. Instructions and download link
(as usual) at: